1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle alternators and, more particularly, to a vehicle alternator installed on a vehicle such as a passenger car and a truck or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
With vehicle alternators of the related art, it has been a general practice for electric devices such as a regulator and a rectifier, etc., to be located on a body of the alternator in an area remotest from a pulley (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,710,499). The alternator usually includes a protector cover in the form of a protector cover that is fixed to the body of the alternator to cover the electric devices. The protector cover takes the form of a structure configured to prevent foreign matters from entering an inside of the protector cover.
In addition, a vehicle alternator has been known with a structure employing a sealing member interposed between a protector cover and a brush holder so as to have a waterproof function to halt water-incursions on brushes (see, for instance, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-32571). With the vehicle alternator of such a structure, the sealing member is pressed against a brush holder by means of the protector cover.
Meanwhile, during a process of assembling the vehicle alternator of the structure disclosed in the above U.S patent in a vehicle-assembly plat or the like, there are many probabilities for a service vehicle to handle the vehicle alternator by holding the pulley. During such handling step, if an error occurs with the vehicle alternator falling down to a floor or the like, the vehicle alternator drops onto the floor or the like with a rear side of the alternator placed downward. In this moment, an impact shock is directly exerted to the electric devices such as the regulator and the rectifier or the like mounted on the alternator at the rear side thereof. Thus, there is a fear of damage or cracking occurring in the electric devices with a resultant issue of causing defective functions. Moreover, with the vehicle alternator in which the sealing member is interposed between the protector cover and the brush holder, the protector cover is deformed in response to the impact shock due to the dropping of the alternator. In this moment, a gap is created in areas around the sealing member, causing an issue to arise for the brush portions to loose waterproof functions.